I recently tried to register for an account at Treasury Direct, but they said "We are having difficulty verifying the information you provided when opening your account" and told me to submit this form certified by someone at an insured depository institution:

https://www.treasurydirect.gov/pdf/rs/acctauth.pdf

The form says that it needs a corporate seal, signature guarantee stamp, or medallion stamp to certify it (not a notary stamp).

My bank says they can't sign it because they only have a medallion stamp (which is one of the things listed, so I'm assuming it should be fine) but said that if they use it, that will mean that they are liable for up to $250000 of whatever I do on the TD account, which seems strange, because the form just says they are certifying that I'm who I say I am, not that they are taking responsibility for my actions. And this TD form was not in their "list" of documents that they normally use the stamp on.

So basically they wouldn't do it.

They are my main bank, and I don't have open accounts at other brick and mortar banks, and I'm so far a bit hesitant to just try random banks in the area if my own bank that I've banked at for 20 years is giving me problems. I could try another branch, but the woman I dealt with did call someone and was told no, so not sure I'd have success.

Any thoughts? Should they be able to sign and use the medallion stamp just to certify my identity (and not be responsible for my actual transactions on the account)? What can I tell them to make them understand that its just certifying that I'm me? One of the issues is that the form is kind of weird and they didn't seem to understand what it was for and stuff, but my telling them it was so I could buy govt bonds directly seemed not all that helpful.

Jennlee